Changeable Closed-Loop Manufacturing Systems: A Case Study of Challenges in Product Take-Back

Abstract

Product take-back programs are becoming increasingly popular and widespread driven by continuous focus on sustainability and circular economy. As a result, manufacturing systems need to be designed to handle not only disassembly, but also reprocessing of materials, re-assembly, and remanufacturing in a cost-efficient way. Compared to traditional manufacturing, this involves higher need for changeability due to higher uncertainty e.g. in terms of timing, quantity, and quality of received items to handle, and in particular due to significant variety in returned items. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to provide empirical insight on how changeability and reconfigurability can be applied to meet challenges in development of closed-loop manufacturing systems for product take-back.